Strenuous exercise worse than sedentarism?

Schnohr et al. (1) reported a U-shaped association between all-cause mortality and exercise dose in a Danish cohort. Jogging 1 to 2.4 h/week was associated with the lowest mortality, whereas jogging >3 times/week was no better than being inactive and was worse than light jogging (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 9.08; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.87 to 44.01). Furthermore, older (61.3 16.2 years) sedentary nonjoggers with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors...

The Era of Smartphones: Back to Our Biological Makeup?

Physical inactivity is a major modifiable cardiovascular risk factor that has become a growing health problem in the 21st century: 83% of adolescents aged 13-15 years and approximately 1/3 of adults worldwide are inactive, that is, not meeting the minimum international physical activity (PA) recommendations (=150 minutes/week of moderate to vigorous PA) [1, 2]. Thus, the PA levels of the general population, especially of individuals at cardiovascular risk, should be routinely assessed by health care professionals, as it has been recently recommended by the American Heart Association [3]. To this end, accelerometers (usually attached to an elastic belt around the waist) allow objective quantification of PA by providing continuous recordings. At least 3 to 5 days of accelerometer monitoring (including weekend days) are required to determine habitual PA, and it is generally accepted that the device should be worn for =10 hours/day [4]. For this reason, the simple and inexpensive method of PA questionnaires is more widely used and generally better accepted. Unfortunately, the validity of self-reported PA is questionable..

Regular physical activity: A little is good, but is it good enough?

Ekelund et al. (1) nicely showed that physical inactivity causes an approximate twofold increase in the numbers of deaths compared with those attributable to obesity [BMI (in kg/m2) .30] in a Euro- pean cohort (n 1/4 334,161) that was followed up to 12.4 y on average. Physical activity (PA) levels were estimated by using a standardized questionnaire or in-person interviews and were found to be inversely associated with all-cause mortality at all levels of BMI and waist circumference. Another important finding from their study is that substantial survival benefits may be achieved by fairly small amounts of moderate-intensity PA: that is, ;20 min/d of brisk walking, which is below the current PA recommendations of !30 min/d on most, if not all, days of the week (or !150 min/wk). These important findings in Caucasians are in line with those recently reported in an Asiatic cohort, in whom 15 min/d or 90 min/wk of moderate-intensity PA was associated with lower all-cause mor- tality, even for persons at risk of cardiovascular diseas

Galectin-3, osteopontin and successful aging

Background: Individuals who reach exceptional longevity (100+ years of age) free of common chronic age diseases (i.e. ''dodgers'') arguably represent the paradigm of successful aging in humans. As such, identification of potential biomarkers associated with this phenomenon is of medical interest. Methods: We measured serum levels of galectin-3 and osteopontin, both of which have been shown to be linked with major chronic or aging-related disorders in younger populations, in centenarian ''dodgers'' (n=81; 40 men; 100-104 years) and healthy controls (n=41; 24 men, 70-80 years). Results: Both biomarkers showed significantly lower values (p<0.001) in the former (galectin-3: 2.4±1.7 vs. 4.8±2.8 ng/mL; osteopontin: 38.1±27.7 vs. 72.6±33.1 µg/mL). Logistic regression analysis identified the combination of these two biomarkers as a significant predictor variable associated with successful aging regardless of sex (p<0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) classified the ability of galectin-3 and osteopontin to predict the likelihood of successful aging as ''fair'' (AUC=0.75) and ''good'' (AUC=0.80), respectively. Particularly, the combination of the two biomarkers showed good discriminatory power for successful aging (AUC=0.86), with sensitivity=83% and specificity=74%. Conclusions: Lower levels of both galectin-3 and osteopontin are associated with successful aging, representing potential biomarkers of this condition. Our cross-sectional data must be however approached with caution. Further research is necessary to replicate the present preliminary results in other cohorts and to identify the potential use of galectin-3 and osteopontin as potential targets (or at least predictors) in future personalized anti-aging therapies

The financial crisis implications on the expected 2012 Olympics public health effect.

The financial crisis implications on the expected 2012 Olympics public health effect

Hemoglobin Point-of-Care Testing: The HemoCue System.

Besides the use of traditional laboratory resources, the diagnosis of anemia can also be accomplished by assessing hemoglobin (Hb) concentration with point-of-care testing (POCT) devices such as the HemoCue test systems. In several situations, these devices might suitably replace traditional laboratory testing, including several areas of health care where a very rapid Hb measurement might be required to make immediate therapeutic decisions. The use of these devices, however, should fulfill some basic criteria, including economic, clinical, and regulatory issues; appropriate training of the users and knowledge of test requirements, performance, limitations, and potential interferences; the use of venous and arterial sampling, when possible; and a rigorous quality assessment, which should be under the responsibility of laboratory professionals. Because of its optimal performance along with the fact that the HemoCue is probably one of the most commonly used devices worldwide, the aim of this article is to review the literature data about the performance of this test system as compared with laboratory reference testing estimations and according to the biological matrix

Hemoglobin Point-of-Care Testing : The HemoCue System

Besides the use of traditional laboratory resources, the diagnosis of anemia can also be accomplished by assessing hemoglobin (Hb) concentration with point-of-care testing (POCT) devices such as the HemoCue test systems. In several situations, these devices might suitably replace traditional laboratory testing, including several areas of health care where a very rapid Hb measurement might be required to make immediate therapeutic decisions. The use of these devices, however, should fulfill some basic criteria, including economic, clinical, and regulatory issues; appropriate training of the users and knowledge of test requirements, performance, limitations, and potential interferences; the use of venous and arterial sampling, when possible; and a rigorous quality assessment, which should be under the responsibility of laboratory professionals. Because of its optimal performance along with the fact that the HemoCue is probably one of the most commonly used devices worldwide, the aim of this article is to review the literature data about the performance of this test system as compared with laboratory reference testing estimations and according to the biological matrix